Tyler Huff: Path To The NFL Draft

By Simon Carroll

Desire. Commitment. Perseverance. Three non-negotiables when it comes to the NFL, and words that are frequently thrown about in draft season by prospects desperate to show their future employees how far they will go for their team and this sport.

After an incredible college career, Tyler Huff has reset the bar when it comes to doing whatever it takes to play football. The former Jacksonville State quarterback sits down with Simon Carroll to discuss his path to the NFL Draft:

Quarterback, Linebacker, Wrestler?

Credit: Clay Today Online

For casual college football fans, the name Tyler Huff will more than likely have come to their attention in the last twelve months. But one incredible season at Jacksonville State fails to paint the full picture of a unique journey to quarterback stardom – one that began in a different Jacksonville, the one six and a half hours away in Florida:

“I was born and raised in Orange Park, about fifteen minutes south of Jacksonville. I have three sisters; one older and two younger, and we were a big sporting family. They were all cheerleaders, and I was all about football. I started playing football when I was just five years old, and it’s always been the main thing ever since then, even though I played a bit of baseball and even wrestled at high school! And I was pretty good on the mat too – district champ for two of the three years I was there, which obviously helped on the gridiron because I played linebacker as well as quarterback.”

Take one look at Tyler Huff, and you would be forgiven for thinking a linebacker role was the more likely position for the rest of his career. Standing at six foot and five eighths and weighing 215 pounds or so, Huff appears sturdy and robust – with a frame ready for the rigors of defense. Instead, he thrives as a quarterback at Ridgeview High School, where he goes on to become the Panthers’ all-time leader in both passing yards (5,000) and touchdowns (62). Tyler is keen to praise his lifelong mentor for developing his game and setting him on a long road to success:

“As a freshman I played JV, so my sophomore season was when I started playing Varsity football. My school wasn’t bad at football, but not dominant either, but my first year was rough! I started as a sophomore and we went 0-10. I improved that to 6-4 and 5-5 my final two seasons. But as a freshman, I first met my QB Coach Ryan Walker, and he’s been my trainer ever since. He runs a quarterback training program down here in Jacksonville, so any time I had a break at college or was back home, I’d go see him and get some work in. That mentoring from him helped me set those records and put up those stats, which in turn gave me a shot at college ball.”

Presbyterian, And The Price Of College Football

Credit: Willis Glassgow

Despite breaking school records, and being named first-team all-county and to a pair of all-star games as a senior, interest in Tyler Huff as a college recruit was sparse. Huff concedes that he certainly didn’t fit the stereotypical appearance of a college quarterback, even if he had the skills to be one. Just one FCS school was ready to take a chance – and it came without the usual financial aid that student athletes benefit from:

“I was really underrecruited. And looking back, I can see why; I’m a short QB who was a little chubby kid, and back then wasn’t a particularly good runner of the ball. I was a lot different back then to what I am now! I literally had just one D1 offer, and it was from Presbyterian College. Now Presbyterian is a non-scholarship school, meaning there was no full ride for me – if I wanted to play college football, I had to fund it myself.”

A small college in Clinton, South Carolina, Presbyterian is home to less than 1,200 students. Despite the modest size, its status as a D1 football school was undoubtedly appealing to Huff, who had a big decision to make financially. Whilst we didn’t discuss his family finances, it’s fair to say that the majority of student athletes would not be at college without a scholarship. Tyler fell into this category – but incredibly, found a rather unique way to foot the bill:

“Your first season at Presbyterian is kind of free to play, so I didn’t have to worry about the money in 2019. And I was a little naive with that, not realising that situation was a one-year deal. So I come back to my second season, and all of a sudden I gotta pay sixty grand to go to school! So I actually joined the Army ROTC to pay that money for my three years at Presbyterian, before commissioning as a second lieutenant.”

Talk about commitment. In order to pursue his dream of playing football, Huff had enlisted in the Reserves Officers Training Corps. A significant commitment that is still a factor in his life to this day, Huff held no ambition for a role in the armed forces, but appreciates all the benefits it brings – and not just football ones either:

“I never thought I would join the army. Both my grandparents served; one in the Navy, one in the Air Force. But it was a way to pay for school, and when I really looked at it and saw how valuable the career options could be from it long-term, it made total sense. I’m grateful I did it.”

Success Through Adversity

A smaller school it may be, but Presbyterian is a Division 1 FCS program nonetheless. Tyler Huff’s time in Clinton is a little chaotic, coinciding with the global pandemic and the team moving conferences from the Big South to the Pioneer League. If that wasn’t enough, injury also played a role – restricting Huff’s time on the field during his three-year stay:

“My freshman year, I started seven out of the twelve games. I was battling with a senior for the QB job, and it kind of went back and forth. But I was able to get some significant playing time under my belt. And so when he moved on, the starting job was mine. But of course COVID hits, and everything is delayed, so we end up playing a shortened 2020 season in Spring of 2021. And we had a decent season for our standards, going 4-3. But I actually tore my ACL in that season, which was a problem; because the season only ended in April, I only had about three months before Fall camp got underway. So I opted against surgery, and decided to try and play through it with a knee brace for my final season in Clinton.”

Anyone who knows how debilitating and painful an anterior cruciate ligament injury is will appreciate the level of toughness demonstrated by Huff here – even for a former wrestler. But even if he was willing to play through the pain, Tyler was unable to be a quarterback, and had to call time on his Blue Hose career:

“It turned out it wasn’t really possible to play on a torn ACL after all! So I suited up for the first four games, did what I could, but then decided to redshirt on medical grounds and preserve a year of eligibility. I had the surgery pretty quickly at that point, because even though I would graduate that year I knew I wanted to keep playing football. It was the end of my time at Presbyterian, but not the end of my career.”

Despite all the adversity and setbacks, Huff still had written a resume to be proud of. The QB was named All Conference in 2021, and ultimately finished with 2,500 passing yards, 500 rushing yards and 27 touchdowns – in just 12 starts.

"Top Secret Clearance"

Further footballing success would eventually follow for Tyler Huff. But we have learned his desire to play football came at a cost, and Huff began paying back that investment before his time at Presbyterian was even over. Naturally, he would have to balance his two priorities going forward:

“As mentioned earlier, my ROTC time with the Army had ended after two years at Presbyterian, and so I had enlisted and immediately went to join the reserves. That involves one weekend a month, and we call it ‘Drill’. So I would have to drill once a month, which was usually on the weekend. Now during the season that isn’t going to work, because we play football on Saturdays. But my unit was super cool, big fans, and allowed me to push my drill to the following Monday whenever there was a clash. I would fit it in however I could just to fulfill that responsibility.”

If you think this is dedication, you’ve not seen anything yet. Huff’s contract with the Army reserves – the price of playing football at Presbyterian for three seasons – is for six years. As of today, he still has another three years of duty to fulfill, meaning that if Tyler was to embark on an NFL career, he would be compelled to drill whilst playing pro football. With a lot of variables involved in that future scenario, it’s not clear how that would work, but Huff is hopeful a similar agreement could be reached to the one he has had for the last three seasons. Some might see this as an inconvenience, but Huff is just grateful – and his ‘second job’ comes with some pretty cool perks too:

“A drill is different every time. We could go out into the woods on long runs, various types of physical training, but as it’s two days a month one would usually be in the field and the other administerial miscellaneous work. My specific position sits within military intelligence, so I tend to spend more time in the office, which balances nicely with my football career. I had to get top secret clearance which took a long time! But I appreciate the opportunity the Army gave me, and I enjoy giving back to them in this way.”

Flourishing At Furman

Tyler Huff graduated from Presbyterian with a degree in business administration and business analytics in 2021 – his final year at the college. But football was not over for the quarterback, and with three years of eligibility remaining Huff held out hope of extending his college career. Much like it was as a high school recruit, Tyler did not have a range of options to choose from – but the one opportunity that did come his way, he grasped with both hands:

“Presbyterian was a college not a university, meaning I couldn’t pursue a masters degree and keep playing. And I did want to continue, so I looked at my options. And really, my only offer was from Furman. There was some other interest from D2 schools, but I wanted to play at the highest level possible. Furman was a great option for me, being just an hour and a half from Presbyterian. And my coach Tommy Spangler had just gone there and helped me out once he heard I had been offered. I may have been only blessed with one option, but it was a good one – and it turned out to be a great one.”

Things went a lot smoother in Greenville for Huff, who as a grad transfer won the starting job in his first offseason. In two years with the Paladins, the quarterback’s production exploded, with 4,000 passing yards and 1,300 rushing – the first inkling of Huff’s ability on the ground. Unsurprisingly, he looks back on his time at Furman with fondness:

“My first season there, we finished second in the conference. The one conference game we lost I didn’t play! A freak injury to my elbow meant I missed out, which was frustrating. But we made the playoffs and won ten games, which set me up for a bigger year in 2023. Everything came together, we won the Southern Conference title going undefeated, and only lost to Montana in overtime in the third round of the playoffs. At this point it’s kind of in my mind that this was the end of my college career, and I couldn’t have asked for a better way to bow out.”

I ask Huff about the differences between Presbyterian and Furman. With obvious love for both schools, he relished the challenge of a new environment – one that his high school sweetheart and wife of seven years joined him in:

“The biggest thing was the scholarship. I loved my time at Presbyterian, but if you don’t offer scholarships at the D1 level, you’re going to struggle to be competitive. So when I got to Furman I immediately could see the depth of talent there. It was a big adjustment, a big step up, but I loved every minute of my two years there. My wife Kathryn moved to Furman to live with me whilst I was there, I got my masters degree, and we had success on the field. It was perfect.”

One More Season

Five years, two schools – Tyler Huff had forged out an impressive college career against the odds. At every turn he was able to find one shot, one method, one opportunity to persevere. But even the most romantic of authors would struggle to envision another chapter in Huff’s journey. The quarterback himself had thought the book was closed – and yet, a one year encore was written in the stars:

“When I left Furman at the end of 2023, I thought that might be it for me. I had to go serve and do training with the Army, so my wife and I moved to Arizona for four months. And I mean, as south in Arizona as you can get, we were like ten miles off the border of Mexico. I was there from January to May, and of course that coincided with the late recruiting window in college football. Rich Rod, he actually flew all the way down there and met me and my wife, came down to the base where I was stationed and had dinner with us! He offered me on that visit, and I was able to take a trip to Jacksonville State three weeks later, where I committed. I was super excited to have one last chance to play football.”

What. A. Decision.

Huff heads to (the other) Jacksonville and leads the Gamecocks to a Conference-USA title in just their second year at the FBS level. The unlikely quarterback is named conference player of the year, newcomer of the year, and championship MVP, accolades earned by shredding defenses on a weekly basis. If 2,500 passing yards and 14 touchdowns in 2024 doesn’t impress you, how about him topping it up with 1,344 yards and 15 scores on the ground? Those are rushing numbers most running backs would be proud of, and yet it was nothing less than Huff expected when he decided to team up with one of the most creative offensive minds in college football:

“The main reason I chose to go to Jax State was because of how Rich Rod runs his offense. He gives you this confidence that makes you feel like you can’t do anything other than succeed in his structure. Very QB-friendly, a lot of reads that gives you the power to maximise every play. I knew from day one that I was going to thrive in that environment, and it kind of unlocked my dual threat ability too, which is a unique aspect of my game that helped me and the team have so much success.”

Six years ago, Tyler Huff was finding unique financial ways to just play football. Now, after a college career that was as unlikely as it is incredible, there’s the possibility that, in the future, the sport could pay him. Huff is now fully invested in turning pro, even though it wasn’t a factor he dwelled on at Jacksonville State:

“Honestly, even when I got to Jax State, I wasn’t thinking of the NFL. Just because of my size and the lack of attention I had received at every stage to that point. My career has always been a fight to keep playing football, and I was fighting for it because I have so much passion for the game. Every step, every new stop, it was all about keeping playing. I knew I would hate myself if I didn’t give everything to go for as long as possible. But now, after what I achieved last year, that dream of a pro career is very much attainable. Just like at every other point, I’m all in – let’s keep this going for as far and as long as I can.”

Changing The Narrative

With a tentative date of March 28th for Jacksonville State’s Pro Day, Tyler Huff is back in Florida working with his mentor Ryan Walker to hone every aspect of his game. It’s reasonable to assume there will be no Combine invite for Huff, meaning the importance of this date cannot be emphasized enough. One final opportunity to impress scouts beckons – and for a quarterback with an atypical playing style, there’s a lot that Tyler wants to achieve:

“The big thing for me is to kill some narratives out there. It’s kind of a double-edged sword – everybody wants a dual-threat quarterback until you’re labelled one. And if you’re not careful, you can be accused of not being able to throw. So from now until my pro day, I’m polishing up. Every time I work with Coach Walker, we’re looking at every aspect of my mechanics, footwork and throwing motion to make sure I make every throw consistently when scouts are there to watch. And then when it comes to the athleticism, I’ve gotta make sure that what I deliver matches what people expect when they look at the stats. If I’m a dual-threat prospect, I better be fast, and I better be able to throw. And I can do both.”

The NFL, once rigid in its demands from a quarterback, has learned to adapt to the talent at its disposal. Turn on the TV on Sundays, and you’ll see a diverse array of styles under center – and Huff fully intends to take advantage of that new trend:

“The path is there for QB’s like me. No longer is every quarterback Jared Goff; 6’6”, 230lbs, pocket passer. Teams are looking for that x-factor when the script goes out the window, your likes of Baker Mayfield, Kyler Murray. I fit that mold. I’m feisty, competitive, have that fire in my belly like Baker does. I like to talk crap, show that other side to me. But when it comes to making plays, my college career shows I can do that too.”

Some scouts will already have had a front row seat to Tyler Huff’s talents this draft season. The QB was recently invited to Fort Worth to participate in the CGS All-Star showcase, and Huff was grateful for the opportunity:

“I loved it. It was hectic, teams grabbing guys whenever they could. I was able to talk to the Packers, which was an awesome experience. Would have loved to talk to more but it only takes one front office to fall in love with you. There were snowstorms in Dallas that weekend which meant a lot of guys got there late, but I got to showcase my arm against some good competition, and thrived in the seven on sevens on Sunday. I was happy with how I represented myself.”

NFL Ambitions

It might not feel like it for Tyler Huff, but there’s a long way to go until the NFL Draft hits us that last weekend in April. Totally focused on preparing himself for that moment, Huff hasn’t even allowed himself to think of what he might do when that date comes around. Instead, it’s throwing three days a week, working out five days a week – and you can rinse and repeat that schedule for the next three months. Luckily, it seems his wife Kathryn has gladly taken responsibility:

“My wife wants to do a whole party! That’s probably not for me, I’m more inclined to have a relaxed weekend and see what happens. It’s a long three days with no guarantees, so perhaps just have some friends and family over is better. But that’s far from now, I haven’t really thought about anything other than getting my work in and showing out on Pro Day.”

Despite his reluctance to focus too far ahead, the consequences of getting a shot with an NFL team is not lost on Huff, who has never taken football for granted. The lengths he has gone to keep going in this sport shows the determination he has to succeed – and as he continues, there’s a lot more than just his love of the game that’s at stake:

“Wow. Honestly, to get a call? It would mean the world. Not only is it a lifelong dream come true, but it’s a step towards taking care of my family. I have a wife who has been by my side all the way. And it’s tough right now, you can’t really commit to a job whilst you’re training for this opportunity. I’m doing whatever I can, delivering pizzas, doing Door Dash, you name it – anything I can to keep the dream alive. But ultimately, being able to provide for her and the rest of my family would make me so proud. It’s nothing less than they deserve for their support. They know this game means everything to me. If I get given a chance, I’m going to take it.”

Mock Draft

SIMON CARROLL

Lead Writer, Head of Content

PREVIOUSLY THE FOUNDER OF NFL DRAFT UK, SIMON HAS BEEN COVERING COLLEGE FOOTBALL AND THE NFL DRAFT SINCE 2009. BASED IN MANCHESTER, SIMON IS ALSO CO-CREATOR & WEEKLY GUEST OF THE COLLAPSING POCKET PODCAST, AND COVERS THE JACKSONVILLE JAGUARS FOR SB NATION

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A huge thank you to Tyler for taking the time to talk to us. Everyone at The Touchdown wishes him well in his future career.